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LIGHT & LOCAL |
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Last weekend, our good friend Bob Raben gave us a beautiful fresh hamachi. The fragrance of freshly caught fish reminded me of the days when my father used to take me down to Uncle Joe's fish stall on Maunakea Street. I remember hearing my dad and Uncle Joe speaking Chinese with the customers who would barter for fish, fish cake, dried aku, crab, squid, 'opihi, and limu. They even sold fugu (balloon or puffer fish) to the Japanese tea houses. My uncle knew the art of removing the poisonous sack from this fish.
Needless to say, our family ate the freshest seafood every weekend. He would have said "Poho!" ("What a waste!") if he had seen me grill the hamachi. Instead, he would have made sashimi and served it with Coleman's mustard and shoyu.
The Japanese regard hamachi as one of the most desirable fish for sushi. It has a rich, smooth, buttery, smoky flavor and is not overly fatty. Hamachi is the Japanese name of the yellowtail, a species of amberjack.
This sleek migratory fish is native to the Northwest Pacific. In Japan, hamachi are raised in hatcheries and harvested when they weigh between 15 and 20 pounds. Yellowtail caught in Hawaiian waters is usually too lean to be used for sushi. With this prized gift of a fish, I made the following.
GRILLED HAMACHI WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE
For the black bean sauce:
For the grill:
For garnish:
In a zippered plastic bag, immerse hamachi fillets in teriyaki sauce. Marinate overnight or for at least 30 minutes.
To make sauce: In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add teriyaki sauce, chili pepper, black beans, sherry, stir-fry sauce and broth. Bring this mixture to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Slowly whisk the mochiko slurry into the boiled sauce, stirring until it thickens. Reduce heat to very low; keep warm while you prepare the fish.
Heat barbecue (briquettes, gas or wood-burning) to hot. Spray grill with cooking spray. Lay fish — skin side down — on the hot grill; baste during cooking and watch closely. Remove from heat while midsection is still moist and a little underdone or the thinner ends will be too dry.
Place fish on a serving platter and spoon over with warm black bean sauce. Garnish with Chinese parsley (cilantro).
Makes 4 to 6 servings (or more, if smaller servings).
Want a local recipe lightened up? Write Light & Local, Taste Section, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; or taste@honoluluadvertiser.com. Carol Devenot is a Kaimuki-raised kama'aina, teacher and recipe consultant, and author of "Island Light Cuisine" (Blue Sea Publishing, paper, 2003). Learn more at www.islandlightcuisine.com.
